NVCC Opposes Nurse Staffing Question

The Neponset Valley Chamber of Commerce, whose members include Norwood Hospital and Brigham and Women's/Mass General Health Center along with numerous eldercare centers, rehabilitation facilities, and doctor's offices, has joined the Coalition to Protect Patient Safety in opposition to the proposed nurse staffing ballot question.
After reviewing the ballot question and the anticipated impacts it would have on area medical facilities, patients and consumers, the Chamber board voted to oppose the question. There is also concern about legislating, by popular vote, what is essentially a human resources issue. The result being staffing levels being determined by government mandate in a one size fits all manner.
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Getting From Here to There

For most of us getting to work is a fairly easy task. Typically, if we work in the region, we drive and park in a nearby lot. For those commuting to Boston it can it bit more cumbersome whether its taking the commuter rail or driving through the inevitable traffic.
However, there is a reasonably large population of people who commute into our region to work, for whom the journey can be not only lengthy, but somewhat dangerous. Many workers come to the area to work at retail locations like Legacy Place, Patriot Place, The Mall at Walpole and hotels and restaurants along Route 1. The MBTA's 34E bus brings people from Boston to the Neponset Valley along Route 1A. Getting from Route 1A to employer locations on Route 1 can be tricky as there are no connections for commuters, other than walking. In the winter time, with snowy roads, this can be a nuisance at best and hazardous at worst.
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124 Years and Growing

The Neponset Valley Chamber of Commerce will celebrate its 125th Anniversary in 2019!
In preparation for the anniversary, the Board of Directors is forming a sub-committee of members who would be interested in helping to put together a plan to appropriately celebrate the year. This could include a special event or events, member recognition opportunities, video or other media programs.
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Help us Grow at our Member Recruitment Breakfast

Thank you to all who completed our recent membership survey! It's been a while since we've taken the collective pulse of the Chamber membership and we are very pleased that we had more than 100 responses to the questionnaire. The Chamber's Branding Task Force is currently reviewing the results which will help inform our programming, initiatives and future branding efforts. There is a great deal of information that you all provided which will ensure that we are meeting your needs as local businesses. Read more »

Businesses Take to Beacon Hill

We are pleased to announce that Governor Charlie Baker will be joining us for Small Business Day on Tuesday, April 10th. Don't miss this great opportunity to hear from our governor and ask him about the issues most important to your business. Learn vital information, meet key legislators, and make your voice heard on Small Business Day! Read more »

Extra Points

Sharing some random thoughts while wondering which Nick Foles will show up for the Eagles on Sunday.
• How lucky are we to be living and working in the shadow of Gillette Stadium? The Super Bowl has become like an annual holiday around here, thanks to the Patriot's stranglehold on the AFC.
• Of course in addition to bragging rights, their success is good for business. Just look at the recent surge in hotel development along Route 1. Additionally, the extra games played in January provide a boost in business for local restaurants, bars and others that might otherwise be experiencing a slow month after the holidays.
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We’re Hiring - Join us in 2018

We are nearing the end of a very busy and productive year for the Chamber. Back in March our Board of Directors held a planning retreat at which a number of new initiatives were launched and are currently taking shape.
Like many of you in your own businesses, we recognized a need to find new and better ways to engage our customers, which in our case is our members. As a result we launched a Women's Leadership Alliance, a Communications Committee and began plans for a Membership Committee.
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Let’s Do Business - Locally

"This year, buy from the people who have your kid's back."
I saw this in a blog I read recently about shopping locally during the holiday season. It makes a strong case for supporting local businesses. The people who have your kid's back are the businesses whose name you read on the back of their shirts on the Little League and soccer fields, at the ice hockey rinks, in the gyms and anywhere else our kids may be involved in sports or other activities for that matter.
Without local business support, many of these activities either wouldn't exist or would be prohibitively expensive, leaving many kids on the sidelines.
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Meet Your Local Officials

This week's Boston Business Journal had a feature story on Chambers of Commerce in Massachusetts. In it, several Chambers were interviewed and asked how they deal with changing dynamics in the business community.
Cited were a variety of external factors such as the rise of online retailers versus traditional brick and mortar storefronts. Social media has opened a variety of opportunities for networking that never existed before. An aging workforce is beginning to challenge the ability of businesses to fill jobs, in particular those requiring technical skills.
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Follow, Like, Share!

A few weeks ago we polled Chamber members to learn what Social Media platforms they found to be the most beneficial to their business. I wish I could share the results with you but unfortunately a glitch in the survey prevented anyone from submitting their answers, so we have no results (insert frowning emoji here). We will fix the problem and try again soon so that we may be able to share this information with you.
What we do know is that more and more individuals and businesses are using social media to connect with customer and prospects, to share information about their companies and to generate customer feedback and satisfaction rates.
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Mass. Legislators Take up Paid Leave Bills

Do you know what Paid Family and Medical Leave will do to your business?
Earlier this week I participated in a conference call with Chambers, business groups and employers from across the state regarding the Paid Family and Medical Leave Bills being considered on Beacon Hill. The call was hosted by Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM) and shed light on what is contained in the bills and how they would impact Massachusetts businesses.
The following information provided by AIM explains the bills.
The Senate paid leave bill creates a new Massachusetts law establishing the right for employees, certain state independent contractors providing family childcare, personal care attendants, and self-employed individuals to receive job protected paid family and paid medical leave under certain circumstances.
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Planning Ahead

The Board of Director's of the Neponset Valley Chamber of Commerce recently spent an afternoon in a facilitated discussion about the state of the organization and its future.
It was an exhilarating (seriously) afternoon. The board, along with staff, took a hard look at our current reality as a Chamber. We looked at our membership metrics, our events and programs and our community impact. We looked at the current local business environment. We also looked at the most current trends in Chambers of Commerce nationwide.
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We’re Number One!

You may have heard by now that Massachusetts has been ranked the number one state in the country by U.S. News & World Report. The rankings are based on a number of categories and Massachusetts scored high on many, most notably health care, technology and education. In fact, we also learned yesterday that the state’s high school graduation rate reached an all-time high. Last year 87.5% of high school seniors graduated within 4 years.
The good news doesn’t end there of course. We are still basking in the glow of another Super Bowl victory by the Patriots, the Red Sox are favorites to make the World Series this year, the Celtics are in first place and even the Bruins are enjoying a hot streak under their new coach.
Life is so good we even have 70 degree days in February!
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What Does the Governor’s $300 Million Employer Health Care Tax Mean to You?

Last week, Gov. Charlie Baker filed his $40.5 billion FY18 state budget proposal and included what is described as a return of the former Fair Share Assessment on employers that was part of the old MA Health Care reform law. However, the Governor’s new version of this health care tax on employers is looking to be much worse than the old $295 per employee assessment. Under the original Fair Share regulation established in 2006, the assessment brought in $7.5 million – as it was not designed to be a revenue generator. The Baker proposal is the opposite, as it is clearly crafted to raise a significant amount of money - $300 million in taxes on employers, payable to the MA Department of Revenue. The new tax is said to be needed to help close a $600 million budget gap in the state’s Medicaid program, MassHealth. Read more »

The Original Social Network

One of the things I enjoy about college football’s bowl week is that with so many games on, I rarely have to sit through a commercial. Instead, I just switch to the next game. However, one game this week had no other game to switch to, so I was forced to suffer the ads. One that caught my eye was for a website called Thumbtack. Thumbtack promises that “From house painting to personal training, we bring you the right pros for every project on your list.” You can add them to the unending list of websites and social media platforms that all try to do the same thing – connect you to someone with whom you can do business locally. What a novel idea! Read more »